Wit and warmth abounded in the Stella Cole Quartet\u2019s run of four performances at Hong Kong\u2019s Xiqu Centre.<\/p>\n
A baker\u2019s dozen of jazz standards and classic film favourites delivered over an hour proved an ideal format \u2013 well paced and polished, without a moment of slack. Meanwhile, the retro stylings of the bijoux Tea House Theatre mirrored Cole\u2019s profile as a performer: an old soul in youthful form.<\/p>\n
She sashayed into view in a midnight-blue satin gown, with cherry-red lips and white stiletto heels \u2013 a megawatt, doe-eyed, all-American vision of nostalgic glamour, backed by Michael Kanan on piano, Hank Allen-Barfield on drums and Mikey Migliore on bass.<\/p>\n
Among the opening numbers, \u201cPure Imagination\u201d was fitting for a set list that took the audience by the hand and led them to a rosier past, lit by Broadway marquees and post-war optimism. Cole\u2019s languid rendition teased out the tune\u2019s hazy melancholy beneath its dreamlike veneer.<\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/03\/06\/405bf51c-a76c-42da-b079-bd4bda062903_25f6f65f.jpg\" "\\"Michael")
<\/div>It would take a particularly astute ear to guess that the 27-year-old native of the US state of Illinois is not classically trained. She studied theatre, but it was her TikTok takes on the Great American Songbook \u2013 influential American jazz standards and pop songs \u2013 during the pandemic that catapulted her to viral fame, and from there, onto New York\u2019s jazz circuit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n